continental driving
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Rank I Mong on 6 Jan 2010 05:43 On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:27:30 +0000, Bod dribbled: > Rank I Mong wrote: >> On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:08:49 +0000, Bod dribbled: >> >>> Rank I Mong wrote: >>>> On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:16:08 -0800, NM dribbled: >>>> >>>>> On 5 Jan, 19:43, "Brimstone" <brimst...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> I'm thinking about taking myself off on a tour of western Europe a >>>>>> bit later in the year, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium etc. >>>>>> >>>>>> Can anyone point me at useful sources of info regarding driving >>>>>> requirements and cheap places to stay? >>>>>> >>>>>> Any pointers to potential pitfalls would be useful as well. >>>>> As you probably know I have spent a large chunk of my life driving >>>>> to every country in Europe, The Middle East and North Africa, I >>>>> could give you a lot of useful information however as you are known >>>>> to troll and the details of your proposed trip are vague I am >>>>> reluctant to spout volumes of advice. >>>>> >>>>> Some bits of general advice, becoming more obvious the further you >>>>> get from Dover, >>>>> >>>>> 1, Learn the phrase "I don't have any money" in as many languages as >>>>> you can. >>>>> >>>>> 2. Carry small denomination notes, if you have to pay out for a >>>>> bribe or to get out of trouble you won't get change from a big bill, >>>>> don't rely on credit/debit card service being available in spite of >>>>> the adverts to the contrary. >>>>> >>>>> 3. Some places the secondary currency is cigarettes, find out the >>>>> preferred brand in the country concerned and make sure you have a >>>>> supply. >>>>> >>>>> 4. Take care to have the correct documents in France, a very >>>>> expensive frogmarch (no pun intended) to the ATM could await you if >>>>> you don't. >>>>> >>>>> Why not post more detail of your intended trip. >>>> Which part of "Western Europe" don't you understand? >>>> >>>> RIM >>> > >>> > >>> So you class "Western Europe" as a detailed report of his trip >>> then? >> >> I don't class anything you say as sensible at all. >> >>> I suggest that you don't know the meaning of "detailed". It was a fair >>> question. >> >> No, it wasn't. >> >> Brimstone did say "Western Europe", then "France, Spain, Germany, >> Belgium" for a start. I'd love to see NM try and bribe a German copper >> with cigarettes or small change. His advice was tosh. It might have >> worked 40 years ago... >> >> Here is as good a place to start as any >> >> http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/index.html >> >> RIM >> >> > So why didn't you post that helpful site in the first place, rather > than mocking the request for more detail? Why don't you take your own advice? RIM
From: Adrian on 6 Jan 2010 07:58 "Clive George" <clive(a)xxxx-x.fsnet.co.uk> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: > France 24H petrol often relies on cards, and doesn't accept UK cards It usually does these days.
From: Bod on 6 Jan 2010 05:33 Mortimer wrote: > "Bod" <bodron57(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message > news:7qj5pcFsahU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> So you class "Western Europe" as a detailed report of his trip then? >> I suggest that you don't know the meaning of "detailed". >> It was a fair question. > > He probably hasn't worked out his detailed itinerary yet ;-) He did > mention several countries: France, Spain, Germany, Belgium. Legal > driving requirements will be the same for the whole of each country. He > asked where to stay - general advice such as "stay in small hotels > rather than faceless 'chain' hotels" or "B&B in Spain is very good value > for money" is probably what he was looking for. Maybe he wants to know > of country-specific rules of the road, such as the one in the > Netherlands (I know he didn't mention that) where traffic *on* a > roundabaout has to give way to traffic *joining* a roundabout (opposite > of UK and America) or the absurd "priority from the right" rule in > France whereby traffic on a major road may have to give way to traffic > emerging from a farm track, rather than a blanket "traffic on the major > road always has priority over traffic on a minor road". Traffic lights > in many European countries follow the American convention and do not > have a red-and-amber phase: they go straight from red to green with no > advance warning. Does France still require cars to have amber > headlights, either by law or by common practice (ie drivers will harrass > you if you don't have them, even though there isn't a legal requirement)? > > At least you've offered some helpful advice. It's just that if someone is asking for more detail and trying to help, I can't understand a poster just replying with an unhelpful "what part of Western Europe don't you understand". Bod
From: Bod on 6 Jan 2010 05:47 Rank I Mong wrote: > On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:33:16 +0000, Bod dribbled: > >> Mortimer wrote: >>> "Bod" <bodron57(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message >>> news:7qj5pcFsahU1(a)mid.individual.net... >>>> So you class "Western Europe" as a detailed report of his trip then? >>>> I suggest that you don't know the meaning of "detailed". It was a fair >>>> question. >>> He probably hasn't worked out his detailed itinerary yet ;-) He did >>> mention several countries: France, Spain, Germany, Belgium. Legal >>> driving requirements will be the same for the whole of each country. He >>> asked where to stay - general advice such as "stay in small hotels >>> rather than faceless 'chain' hotels" or "B&B in Spain is very good >>> value for money" is probably what he was looking for. Maybe he wants to >>> know of country-specific rules of the road, such as the one in the >>> Netherlands (I know he didn't mention that) where traffic *on* a >>> roundabaout has to give way to traffic *joining* a roundabout (opposite >>> of UK and America) or the absurd "priority from the right" rule in >>> France whereby traffic on a major road may have to give way to traffic >>> emerging from a farm track, rather than a blanket "traffic on the major >>> road always has priority over traffic on a minor road". Traffic lights >>> in many European countries follow the American convention and do not >>> have a red-and-amber phase: they go straight from red to green with no >>> advance warning. Does France still require cars to have amber >>> headlights, either by law or by common practice (ie drivers will >>> harrass you if you don't have them, even though there isn't a legal >>> requirement)? >> > >> > >> At least you've offered some helpful advice. >> >> It's just that if someone is asking for more detail and trying to >> help, I can't understand a poster just replying with an unhelpful "what >> part of Western Europe don't you understand". > > I don't understand why you post a seemingly never ending stream of > drivel. Maybe you can tell us all why you bother posting? I note with > interest you've added nothing useful to this thread, whereas I have.. > > RIM > > I have limited Western Europe experience, so I have no advice to offer. If I could, I would. Bod
From: Rank I Mong on 6 Jan 2010 05:19
On Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:08:49 +0000, Bod dribbled: > Rank I Mong wrote: >> On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:16:08 -0800, NM dribbled: >> >>> On 5 Jan, 19:43, "Brimstone" <brimst...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >>>> I'm thinking about taking myself off on a tour of western Europe a >>>> bit later in the year, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium etc. >>>> >>>> Can anyone point me at useful sources of info regarding driving >>>> requirements and cheap places to stay? >>>> >>>> Any pointers to potential pitfalls would be useful as well. >>> As you probably know I have spent a large chunk of my life driving to >>> every country in Europe, The Middle East and North Africa, I could >>> give you a lot of useful information however as you are known to troll >>> and the details of your proposed trip are vague I am reluctant to >>> spout volumes of advice. >>> >>> Some bits of general advice, becoming more obvious the further you get >>> from Dover, >>> >>> 1, Learn the phrase "I don't have any money" in as many languages as >>> you can. >>> >>> 2. Carry small denomination notes, if you have to pay out for a bribe >>> or to get out of trouble you won't get change from a big bill, don't >>> rely on credit/debit card service being available in spite of the >>> adverts to the contrary. >>> >>> 3. Some places the secondary currency is cigarettes, find out the >>> preferred brand in the country concerned and make sure you have a >>> supply. >>> >>> 4. Take care to have the correct documents in France, a very expensive >>> frogmarch (no pun intended) to the ATM could await you if you don't. >>> >>> Why not post more detail of your intended trip. >> >> Which part of "Western Europe" don't you understand? >> >> RIM > > > > > So you class "Western Europe" as a detailed report of his trip then? I don't class anything you say as sensible at all. > I suggest that you don't know the meaning of "detailed". It was a fair > question. No, it wasn't. Brimstone did say "Western Europe", then "France, Spain, Germany, Belgium" for a start. I'd love to see NM try and bribe a German copper with cigarettes or small change. His advice was tosh. It might have worked 40 years ago... Here is as good a place to start as any http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/index.html RIM |